Arteta blames Arsenal's 'painful' semi-final loss to Newcastle on lack of composure

Arsenal displayed a lack of their typical composure, as noted by manager Mikel Arteta, following their exit from the League Cup semi-final after a 4-0 aggregate loss to Newcastle United on Wednesday.

Arteta remarked that his team entered the match with high hopes of overcoming a 2-0 deficit from the first leg. However, after Martin Odegaard squandered a significant early opportunity, their performance diminished.

Just under two minutes after Odegaard's missed chance, Jacob Murphy compounded Arsenal's difficulties by scoring from a rebound after Alexander Isak's shot struck the post.

"To believe that we could turn it around, we needed to generate momentum, especially in the first half," Arteta told reporters.

"Then we had the moment, two big moments. With Martin, we didn't capitalise; the next action, they scored the goal and obviously, the game shifted.

"Then, you need to stay cool, to score a goal as early as possible. We didn't manage to do that in the first half even though we had another big chance. In the second half then we started to struggle (and) the game started to get away from us."

From the outset, Arsenal appeared unsettled by Newcastle's aggressive pressing, with defenders Gabriel and William Saliba exhibiting unusual anxiety under pressure.

"It's true that today we've been a bit more unsettled, especially when the game became more chaotic or when they were very direct with their play," Arteta said.

"Normally we are much more composed, today we lacked a bit of that and the game went away from us."

With Arsenal already eliminated from the FA Cup, they will take advantage of a rare weekend off by traveling to Dubai for warm-weather training, which Arteta hopes will serve as a boost for the remaining months of the Premier League title race.

"First of all, I think this is going to be a painful one and while we are in Dubai, recharge and then go again because we have still a lot to play for," Arteta said.

He expressed hope that Gabriel Martinelli, who left the field with a hamstring injury in the first half, has not sustained a serious injury.

Arsenal are already without Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka and failed to land a forward in the transfer window.

"He felt something, I think it was his hamstring and he wasn't comfortable to continue so we'll have to do an MRI scan tomorrow to see the extent of the injury," Arteta said.